The Civil War: A Narrative: Volume 2: Fredericksburg to Meridian (Vintage Civil War Library)

The Civil War Trilogy is not a project or light read, it's a commitment. The second volume is 967 pages, about 100 more than volume one. The first two have been exhaustively researched and detailed, and Mr. Foote's ability to tell a story is wonderful. This is not just a compendium of facts and troop movements, it's a real, living breathing account of the men who fought this war. From the men on the line to the generals to the presidents, you are there, you feel what they feel. The personalities are drawn with a vivid brush, you know what it's like to try to hold the factions of a country together (both sides had riots), the politics and rivalries between the generals, and what the civilians experienced.This book is so real, so accurate, that Gettysburg, a battle that took three days, takes three days to read. I've read books on that battle that weren't this good.I did have to take break between tomes, but I think I'm ready for volume three. The thing is, when I'm reading these books, that's what I want to do. I mean, the dishes really pile up, y'know?

I will write the same review for all three of the late Shelby Foote's three volume set history of the American Civil War.If you saw the Ken Burns PBS series on the Civil War you saw the man with a twinkle in his eye as he told you a story about one of the many events that constituted the war. His gentlemanly charm and an occasional twinkle in his text makes for fine reading. Do keep in mind that there are different opinions about many of the topics Shelby writes. Some compare him to Bruce Catton a noted historian of a slightly earlier age who won plaudits for his tomes on the war.But having read Catton, Foote, and others I am convinced that they have something to offer as we try to understand what really happened and why many things did happen during the course of a war where a nation fought both to stay together and to tear itself apart.Foote's volumes are a read so be prepared for hours of enjoyment of reading the captured discource of a uniquely talented man.

This 3 book series is much more than a narrative of the civil war. It also explains the thinking and tactics of the generals and the political situation in the country that drove these decisions. Lincoln, Sec. of War Stanton and General-in-Chief H. W. Halleck were all former lawyers before the war and ran the war from a political perspective. Only Halleck had any military background, but he was often overruled by Stanton and President Lincoln, who had none. The series reads like a novel and more than meets my expectations for giving me a much better understanding of what the civil war was all about. I graduated high school back in 1963, when the public school system still taught american history and civics so I thought that I knew a little bit about the subject. As it turns out what little I knew was mostly wrong and completely wrong as to the what were the root causes of the civil war. Shelby Foote did an excellent job of telling the story of the Civil War era.

With this middle volume the magnitude of the Civil War sank in. So many miles, so many men, and so many graves. The year 1863 proves to be the turning point, as this work artfully shows, and with it comes a profound sense of the tremendous cost paid, as Foote is fond of saying, to the butcher. In this installment, we see Grant emerge as the answer to Lincoln's prayers and equal in the West to Lee in the East. What is also evident that the war will end in conquest not negotiation. Among the nearly thousand pages I find myself most intrigued by Sherman, whose vision of the task at hand seems at the same time terrible and correct. I regret not having invested in learning our history sooner.

I'm reading volume 1 of this 3 part series and it's turning out to be an excellent read. I'm a history fan but I never paid much attention to the American Civil War for some reason but that changed when I read Rebel Yell by S. C. Wynn. The incredible story of the legend of Stonewall Jackson and others in the civil war has given me an appreciation for American history. I'm almost done with volume 1 and will be cotinuing with this next one promptly.

This is one of the best written narratives of war ever written. Clear. Properly detailed. Extraordinarilly well written. You never want to put it down. Like Grant's Memoirs, but more human in its discussion, more detailed and flowing about the human interactions, reads easier. Quality superb. I have read 20 or 30 accounts of the civil war, will read Foote's other 2 volumes as well. No matter what you have or haven't read on this subject, you will want to tead this for every reason.

SHELBY FOOTE IS, BY FAR, THE MOST AUTHORITATIVE WRITER ON THE CIVIL WAR. HE WRITES IN AN EASY MANNER, MORE LIKE HE IS SITTING DOWN WITH YOU AND EXPLAINING THE WAR. IN MY CONVERSATIONS WITH HIM IN YEARS PAST, HE WAS MOST HUMBLE AND VERY COURTEOUS. HIS 3 VOLUMES ON THE CIVIL WAR ARE THE BEST EVER WRITTEN ON THE SUBJECT AND HIS PARTICIPATION IN KEN BURNS' CIVIL WAR EPOCH IS MEMORABLE. IT SHOWS THE TRUE SPIRIT OF THE MAN. HE BRINGS OUT LITTLE VIGNNETES ABOUT PARTICIPANTS THAT ARE LITTLE KNOWN AND MOST OFTEN NOT INCLUDED IN OTHER CIVIL WAR WORKS. NEEDLESS TO SAY, SHELBY FOOTE IS MY FAVORITE CIVIL WAR AUTHOR.